SHALLOWATER — Moments before the first pitch between the Shallowater and Cooper softball teams Tuesday night, the Fillies were eliminated from postseason contention via Seminole’s victory against Levelland.

That didn’t stop the Fillies from playing like a playoff team.

Led by timely hitting, strong pitching and just enough plays by the defense, Shallowater upset Cooper 5-4 at home, giving the two Shallowater seniors a rousing send-off in their final home game.

“It felt great to win,” senior catcher Carlie Contreras said. “Ever since I was a freshman, we’ve tried to beat them, and this was the game to do it.”

Contreras said this was the first time Shallowater has beaten its district rival in her four years.

The two teams traded blows through the first four innings, with the Lady Pirates (21-7, 6-3) bringing a 3-2 advantage into the fifth.

Shallowater started its rally with a no-out walk to Hannah Vigil, followed by an error that allowed Ariah Robertson to reach for the second time. Robertson singled in the Fillies’ first two runs in the second inning.

The walk and error set the table for freshman Kayla Newton to double in the pair. The freshman then crossed the plate two batters later on a Taylor Tetens single.

Cooper followed up in the sixth with a rally of its own when Baylee Goolsby drove in Sami Gonzales on a groundout, advancing Mariah Atencio to scoring position with two outs.

However, Shallowater pitcher Jordan Estrada forced a Roxanne Euresti pop out to end the threat, stranding the seventh Cooper runner of the game.

Overall, the Lady Pirates left eight baserunners stranded on seven hits, getting help from six Shallowater errors.

The big hit never seemed to come.

“We’ll get runners on, and we’ll work hard to do that, and then we get comfortable,” White said.

Cooper threatened again in the seventh when White led off with a walk and Alyssa Hughes was hit by a pitch, but White was thrown out a third after a passed ball. Hughes reached third on an Aaliyah Alonzo groundout, but she got Bailee Cowan — who drove in two runs earlier in the game — to pop to shortstop and end the game.

The Fillies started district 0-4, but rallied for three straight wins before dropping a 3-0 decision to Andrews on Saturday. Cooper needed to win its final two games and hope the Maidens dropped their last two, forcing a playoff, but the Fillies’ season will end Saturday afternoon after they play Levelland.

Still, Shallowater coach Jeff Richardson is proud of how his team has played in the second half of district.

“We’ve played all year long like a playoff team,” Richardson said. “In the first half we just didn’t have breaks go our way. In the second half, we played as well as can be expected. We’re 3-1 now in the second half. You can’t ask for anymore out of a young group of girls. They’ve worked hard all year, they’ve battled hard all year.”

Shallowater graduates just two seniors — Contreras and Valenzuela — and returns all three pitchers.

Cooper, on the other hand, has already clinched a playoff spot, but is now tied with Seminole for second.

The Lady Pirates end the regular season against Estacado at 1 p.m. Saturday in Woodrow. Cooper ran through district play last year, but the Lady Pirates have gotten close games nearly every time out this year.

“Our district is tougher this year, and we have to come out with the mind-set that we have to work hard this year to get the win.”